1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management apparatus for managing log information, an information processing apparatus, and a method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
If a system including a plurality of devices (computers) is operated, it is necessary to collectively monitor a plurality of logs of devices, not merely a log of one device, in the system. In order to grasp what operation/processing has been executed with respect to a particular user or a particular action (e.g., a service utilized), a task to extract a log relating to the user or the action that becomes a search target from a large number of log files is needed. In order to extract the above-described log, it is required to identify by which of user's actions information recorded as a log (log information) by the device is output. In addition, in a case where a user makes a processing request and a plurality of devices realize the processing request in cooperation with each other, logs of the devices need to be associated with the action of the same user. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-302170 discusses a log management apparatus that restores a list of user accounts of the past by using a change history of the user account list and a list of the latest user accounts, and performs log search using the list of user accounts that are valid for a search target period of time.
However, the log management apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-302170 needs to use only single user account list in the system. Therefore, if a plurality of devices that independently perform user management exist within the system, the log management apparatus cannot be applied. In the log management apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-302170, the system cannot be expanded by adding a device that performs its own user management, for example, to a system in which service is already running. As a result, if a plurality of devices that independently perform user management exist in the system, the log information cannot be extracted with respect to a particular user.